Search Results

African American Scholars at Case is a digital initiative that focuses on the presence of African Americans at Case Western Reserve University since its inception. The project seeks to preserve and make widely available information about the contributions of African ...

show more

African American Scholars at Case is a digital initiative that focuses on the presence of African Americans at Case Western Reserve University since its inception. The project seeks to preserve and make widely available information about the contributions of African Americans to the University and to both the local and global communities. The exhibit is based on Profile of Distinguished Black Alumni at Case Western Reserve University, published by Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs (Retired), Gwendolyn G. Johnson. The project is a collaborative effort between the Kelvin Smith Library, Ms. Johnson, and the University Archives.

Most of the letters here were written between Charles F. Brush, Sr., and his family members, most notably his son, Charles F. Brush, Jr., and his son’s wife, Dorothy Brush (Walmsley). Unfortunately, not much correspondence exists before 1910. In the letters (dated be...

show more

Most of the letters here were written between Charles F. Brush, Sr., and his family members, most notably his son, Charles F. Brush, Jr., and his son’s wife, Dorothy Brush (Walmsley). Unfortunately, not much correspondence exists before 1910. In the letters (dated between 1911 and 1929) between Brush, Sr., his son, and daughter-in-law, they discuss their lives in Cleveland and elsewhere, their travels, scientific experiments, school, and grandchildren. The correspondence also documents how Dorothy and Brush, Sr., coped with the death of Charles F. Brush, Jr., in 1927. The correspondence files also highlight Brush’s efforts to prove his theory of gravitation. This theory suggested that the behavior of gravity could be explained by the action of ether. Ether was thought to be a gas which many believed occupied space in which light traveled. Thus, Brush attempted to prove the existence of ether. After many years of conducting his own experiments in his Euclid Avenue home’s basement laboratory to prove the existence of ether, Brush contracted scientists at the U.S. Bureau of Standards and General Electric to further his work. As the correspondence showed, the experiments done at the U.S. Bureau of Standards and General Electric could not prove, to their satisfaction, the existence of ether.

Included in this record series are news clippings from daily newspapers around the country as well as scientific journals and popular publications such as Harper’s Weekly. Topics discussed are: Brush’s work on the arc light, dynamo, and storage battery; Euclid Avenue...

show more

Included in this record series are news clippings from daily newspapers around the country as well as scientific journals and popular publications such as Harper’s Weekly. Topics discussed are: Brush’s work on the arc light, dynamo, and storage battery; Euclid Avenue home and windmill; Brush Foundation and its activities; Brush’s death in 1929; patent litigation; Brush’s theory of gravitation.

From the inception of the Medical Department of Western Reserve until 1885, each student had to submit a thesis to graduate. These theses, each handwritten in pen on paper, were later bound into a series of 47 volumes. Over time the thesis requirement lapsed and th...

show more

From the inception of the Medical Department of Western Reserve until 1885, each student had to submit a thesis to graduate. These theses, each handwritten in pen on paper, were later bound into a series of 47 volumes. Over time the thesis requirement lapsed and this collection found its way to the archives of the Dittrick Medical History Center in the Allen Memorial Medical Library. The theses collection comprises a unique view on the range and substance of medical students’ interests and preoccupations, and of course, what they were being taught during the two years they spent in medical school. Students typically wrote on diseases, presenting their etiology (their cause or origin), diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. So, for example, one finds theses on consumption (tuberculosis), “intermittent fevers,” and scarlet fever. Some theses ponder more weighty topics, such as the rational of medication, the nature of contagion, and the nature and effects of miasmas. More mundane surgical topics range from dealing with strabismus (cross eye) to hernia repair. And some these deal with essentials of anatomy and body function, as for example, a thesis on the physiology of the ovaries. Diagnosis looms large and included topics such as symptoms and signs of pregnancy and the role of auscultation and percussion in physical examination. Of course, the quality and coherence varies considerably, as did the aptitude and intellect of the students. One might look in vain for great originality; most pieces were a review of the literature on the thesis topic. But one cannot help but be impressed by students’ expository skill and generally high command of the English language. The theses may use correct (for the time) terminology, but in other respects are written in plain, clear, straightforward manner. Jargon is all but non-existent, so the theses are very accessible to all readers. In summary, the theses of Western Reserve medical students capture a moment in time, just on the eve when the biological sciences transformed medicine and made it less approachable.

The 'Cleveland, Ohio and the Western Reserve Digital Text Collection' includes electronic versions of books from the Library's collections which focus on the history, government, culture, and people of Cleveland, Ohio. All of these digital books are currently availab...

show more

The 'Cleveland, Ohio and the Western Reserve Digital Text Collection' includes electronic versions of books from the Library's collections which focus on the history, government, culture, and people of Cleveland, Ohio. All of these digital books are currently available in PDF format. Also included are a growing number of full-text versions encoded in XML, using the Text Encoding Initiative Guidelines.

Materials from the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936 and 1937, including postcards, photographs, objects, video, panoramas, programs, and audio The GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION of 1936 and 1937 provided Clevelanders with relief from the dreariness of the Depression and helped...

show more

Materials from the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936 and 1937, including postcards, photographs, objects, video, panoramas, programs, and audio The GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION of 1936 and 1937 provided Clevelanders with relief from the dreariness of the Depression and helped them celebrate the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city. The exposition was the idea of Frank J. Ryan and Lincoln G. Dickey, the city's first public hall commissioner. Mall A was the site of the Sherwin-Williams Plaza at the Great Lakes Exposition of 1937. Dudley S. Blossom became chairman of a civic committee that contributed $1.5 million to transform the idea into reality. Built on land extending along the lakefront from W. 3rd St. to about E. 20th St., the 135-acre exposition also incorporated the Mall area, Public Hall, and Municipal Stadium. Work began in Apr. 1936, and in just 80 days the exposition opened to the public on 27 June 1936 for a 100-day run. Among the attractions which drew 4 million visitors to the lakefront that year were a "Streets of the World" district that featured 200 cafes and bazaars reminiscent of the countries they represented, a midway with rides and sideshows, a Court of the Presidents, a Hall of Progress, an Automotive Bldg., an art gallery, a Marine Theater, and horticultural gardens. The 1937 season opened on 29 May with a new attraction which became its most popular feature: an Aquacade that featured water ballet shows and starred Eleanor Holm and Johnny Weismuller. By the time the second season came to an end on 15 Sept., nearly $70 million had been spent by approximately 7 million exposition visitors over the 2 years. The only vestiges of the festival remaining in 1995 were the Donald Gray Gardens directly north of the stadium. [source: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History]